Steven McCord was Google Maps before Google Maps
On building a resilient business, in this and every economy
Single-family rental (SFR) transactions hit a wall in 2022, sparking a flood of quick-fix strategies and speculative hot takes. Much of this guidance overlooks two key factors—personal goals and the market’s unpredictability. We’re speaking with unorthodox SFR leaders about what resilience means to them and how it plays out in their work, life, and investment strategies.
Taking the road less traveled
For Steven McCord, resilience is a harmonious balance of intuition for opportunity, adaptability in the face of change, and a deep connection to both data and people. The CEO and Co-Founder of Spatial Laser, Steven displays a demeanor that reflects his philosophy: bookish, measured, unassuming. He didn’t correct me when I called him “Steve” throughout our interview, which speaks to his low-ego manner.
When I asked him how he got started in real estate, Steven began with a polished answer about Spatial Laser’s origins, and its Locate Alpha product suite. Almost as an afterthought, he added, “I’ve just always liked buildings.” Pressing him on this point opened a door.
Steven’s perspective made me reflect on my own journey. In my twenties, I played it safe. I climbed the corporate ladder, focused on security, and followed a path dictated by external expectations. It earned me stability but eventually left me burned out and disconnected. Only recently have I started rebuilding a life that aligns with my passions and interests.
Hearing Steven’s take on resilience reminded me of the merit of following an unconventional path. He shared stories of a childhood spent poring over maps, tagging along on house tours, and living in three countries before high school. These experiences, paired with an intuitive ability to read his environment, shape the approach he brings to business and leadership.
Diversification in Dallas, Duluth, and beyond
Steven defines resilience in terms of economic and environmental diversity. Cities built on a single industry are economically fragile, while places with a broad economic base, like Dallas-Fort Worth, can weather downturns with ease.
This principle shapes his strategy for both his personal investments and his company. Spatial Laser developed a scorecard for build-for-rent clients, incorporating over 30 metrics like population growth, job access, rental trends, and environmental factors. Markets are assigned a score from 1 to 10, offering investors a clear view of resilience, upside, and liquidity.
Steven applies this thinking to his own portfolio, preferring tertiary markets like Spartanburg, South Carolina, and Little Rock, Arkansas. “Cash flow drives everything for me,” he says, emphasizing B neighborhoods or better while balancing returns with risk.
Environmental diversification plays a role too. Climate change, in particular, influences where he sees long-term potential. While many still bet on high-risk Florida, Steven is eyeing places like Duluth, Minnesota, where Lake Superior helps keep summers mild. “Winters are tough now, but in thirty years, who knows?”
AI as a creative wingman
Steven’s perspective on AI is refreshing: It’s neither a savior nor a threat but a tool to automate the mundane and solve bigger problems. “It’s about freeing up analysts to do the fun stuff,” he says. Instead of spending hours toggling between Zillow and spreadsheets, Steven envisions a future where real estate professionals can focus on creative, strategic decision-making.
The real estate industry is in the midst of a technological revolution. Machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) are transforming the way we analyze massive datasets. The unveiling of DeepSeek, China’s free open-source AI, shook markets last month when it surpassed ChatGPT for downloads in the App Store.
While AI is becoming essential to business, real estate remains a personal industry. Growth depends on relationships as much as technological innovation. For Steven, the potential of these advancements extends far beyond offloading boring work. The real power lies in the ability to integrate and analyze previously siloed datasets. Imagine asking an AI, “Show me every house between $300K and $500K, within five minutes of a Starbucks, and in a top school district,” and getting a map of all your ideal properties. Steven told me his team is working on new tools that make it easier to buy and build, like an SFR-specific grading system for property evaluation and a heatmap of new builds created from satellite imagery. Like the internet before it, AI will accelerate adopters and leave others behind.
From street atlases to Shanghai
Steven’s fascination with buildings has taken different forms throughout his life. Growing up on the Gulf Coast of Florida, he tagged along on house tours with his parents, savoring the “new house smell” and memorizing layouts. By the time he was eight, he carried a commercial street atlas of Hillsborough County and directed his parents on optimal routes: “I was Google Maps before Google Maps.” Later, his visual-spatial thinking grew into a love for data visualization. As a kid, he was fascinated by weather maps in the newspaper and dreamed of creating his own.
In 2005, after completing a Master’s in Global Policy and Strategy, Steven landed in Shanghai. As the Head of Research at JLL, he helped funds navigate billion-dollar deals during China’s real estate boom.
After 12 years, he shifted his focus to the U.S., where the fragmented SFR data landscape presented a challenge and an opportunity. Steven envisioned tools to connect the dots and help investors make faster, smarter decisions. That vision became Spatial Laser, his analytics software for build-for-rent, homebuilding, and scattered single-family rental businesses.
If you’re thinking of getting into SFR…
Steven emphasizes that some crucial factors are not immediately visible and require a systematic approach to uncover. New investors need more than just firsthand observations when creating their SFR investment thesis. Visiting a market and driving around to take its pulse can provide useful insights, but it's not enough to fully grasp the opportunity and risks involved.
Investors should analyze behavioral metrics such as population growth, job accessibility, rental trends, and institutional ownership to assess a market's long-term viability. This is particularly important for those expanding across multiple regions, where maintaining deep, localized knowledge is difficult. By organizing and comparing opportunities consistently across markets, investors can make informed decisions that maximize growth potential and minimize risk.
Resilience as an intuitive practice
I started this series expecting guests to share practical strategies for keeping their businesses afloat during SFR’s recent challenges. Instead, my conversation with Steven took a turn toward the proactive, emphasizing resilience as a mindset and long-term practice.
His concept of resilience is rooted in systems thinking. He connects diverse aspects of his life—early interests in maps, data science, and travel—to form a strategy that underpins both business and personal decisions. This synthesis enables him to navigate challenges with strength and ease.
Pressing Steven on a passing comment about buildings uncovered a depth that might have stayed hidden, highlighting the power of following our curiosity. Unexpected questions can lead to new adventures and brave discoveries. We’ll continue to explore what resilience means to other leaders throughout this series, so stay with us!